Apocalyptic Allies
by thedeadwalking91
Summary: Daryl manages to escape Woodbury, but doesn't get far without the help of a stranger in the woods. DarylxOC. Set after 3x8, but not following the TV show. Please Read and Review :-)
1. Chapter 1

Apocalyptic Allies 

Chapter One: Dazed and Confused

**This story takes place after the season 3 hiatus, but I haven't included the new group (Tyresse) yet! There is a female O/C! Some parts of the story may be altered slightly for my purpose to my story! This is my first Walking Dead Fan Fic, so be gentle**

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_ARGH. What the hell is this pain? Oh, crap. I've been bitten. This is it, I'm dying and going to come back as one of those. Makes me wonder why I even tried to survive. I can't even remember what I was doing to get bit...WAIT! I'm not dead. Since when did the dead think? Maybe I just need to open my eyes..._

_SHIT, I remember! Just running from a herd of those dead things..._

_WAKE UP _

_WAKE UP_

_WAKE UP_

She sat up with a jolt, her round brown eyes wide with fear and a desperate need to learn her surroundings. Then a white hot pain burnt through her right shoulder, catching her off guard; unable to take a breath. Using all her momentum to get up and ready to fight, there was nothing to prepare the woman for what did happen. She ended up falling on the floor.

'What the hell?'

Her voice was raspy from dehydration, her eyes darted to where she fell from and where she landed.

'Is that...a bed?'

Slowly, and with a tight grip on her shoulder, she stood up; not realising how much she ached in general. There was light outside the room she was in. Not a room, a cell. A prison cell. Quickly, she turned to the entrance, her tangled blonde hair flipping into her face. The sudden movement caused a queasy feeling in her stomach, but there was a determination to find out where she was; and not get eaten.

'Hello?' Her eyes took in the cold, harsh grey of the prison, overlooking the random trails of blood over the walls and floor. Footsteps were approaching, they echoed loudly in the ears of the wounded woman; she frowned as she tried to work out whether it was the footsteps of the living or the dead.

'Stop where you are.' A raspy voice with a southern twang broke the eeriness of the prison, and caused the young woman to stand still; but relief washed through her. The dead don't talk.

'Hello, look, I've not got anything, please don't hurt me.' Brown eyes pleaded with the figure in front of her through the cell block door. 'I'm hurt, and have no idea where I am. But if you just let me go, I won't come back.'

'We aren't going to hurt you. Are you from another group? Are you one of the Governors people?'

The woman was starting to feel dizzy as her shoulder wound continued to throb with pain. She scowled against the pain, trying to get her words out to answer the man's questions.

'Lady, it would be in your best interest to answer my questions. Are you one of the Governors people?'

A slight humming noise replaced the powerful voice as her legs gave up, and her body succumb to her bleeding shoulder alongside exhaustion. There was shuffling as the door was opened quickly, and her brown eyes tried to focus as two men picked her up and placed her on the nearest bed. There was a fair amount of commotion as an older man and two women worked together to clean and bandage the injured woman's shoulder. In the background, it sounded like a baby was crying, but she just put that down to hallucinations; but something snapped her back into a brief moment of focus as she recognised one of the people who was standing outside the cell. But, the darkness of unconsciousness welcomed her into an embrace, and she relaxed as it took over her.

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When the young blonde woman collapsed, Rick quickly opened the door and called for Daryl to help pull her to the nearest cell. She was light, and her clothes were bloodied; Rick worried that he should have got Hershel in sooner to check her over. But he needed to know where she was from, why she did what she did. It wouldn't have surprised him if it was a trap, alarm bells rang when Daryl arrived with her bleeding in his arms.

'Hershel, we need you in here NOW.'

Rick shouted for the older man to come to the barely conscious woman's aid, wincing slightly as he watched the man hobble over on stood by Rick's side, nervously watching as the dirty blonde-haired woman fought against passing out; a slight pang of responsibility heavy in his stomach. He rubbed his ribs gently as they throbbed against his chest, a reminder of the events of the past day; his blue eyes catching her brown ones is a moment of clarity for her more so. He ran his hand through his messy brown hair, and left the space clear for Hershel, Beth and Carol to help the stranger. Rick pulled him aside, ignoring the increasing cries of his daughter, needing answers quickly so he could save her from a potential attack.

'Daryl, you need to tell me all you know about her now, because she could be working for the guy who took Glen, Maggie and you.' Despite the urgency, the soft look in Rick's eyes spoke volumes for the fact that what was left of his ever-rapidly decreasing family; were back. 'We thought we lost you. After all those walkers we saw when we went to go back, I...I...' He stuttered through an apology, but could see the resolve in Daryl's eyes; that he knew Rick made the right call. It would have been no good for the survival of the whole group for Rick, Maggie, Glen, Michonne and Daryl to be eaten alive.

'I dunno what to tell you, walkers came out of nowhere, probably because we were shooting up the place before. I got out, started running but got lost. It was dark an' ma brother had just kicked the shit outta me. Then, there she was. All I do know is that, that girly in there saved this rednecks ass.'

Daryl swallowed the pride that came with his final sentence, knowing that a stranger kept him alive and back to his people. His people. Acceptance was something that didn't come natural to the hunter, years of abuse took its toll on his people skills. But Rick stood by him, saw worth in the damaged man, and Daryl couldn't help but enjoy how that made him feel. How the responsibility of protecting his group gave him a purpose; though he made sure people felt that it was out of duty rather than because they had become his family. Some of it was out of duty, like a dog always needing a master; Daryl preferred to just follow what Rick said, shying away from taking control. Rick would never have that problem with Daryl, like he did with Shane; but that's what made Rick value Daryl so much. They could work together and respected each other enough to make the right call. Right now, that call had let a strange woman into their home.

'Okay Daryl, I'm glad you came back.' Rick put an arm on the shoulder of the man opposite him, releasing the fear that stored inside him; the fear of the survival of the group if Daryl never came back.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Hurry Your Ass Up

**Hey **** I hope the first chapter was okay! This one will be looking at what happened to bring this woman into the prison. Also, I wont be following events from Season 3.5, this will be all my own stuff! R&R :)**

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'Hey, hey, you need to get up now. C'mon, I'm not getting my ass chewed on because you have decided to have a nap.' A frantic young woman shook at the semi-conscious man lying in the woods; blood colouring his face from his head; dirt making up the rest of it.

'Huh, argh, what the fu..'

'Run, NOW.' The blonde haired woman pulled the man up by his arm as quickly as she could, to pull him onto his feet; the shuffling moans and groans of at least 20 dead people acting as the driving force. Daryl was slow to his feet, but the noise of hungry walkers caused all his injuries to fade as survival instincts kicked in; he could feel the weight of his bow on his shoulder-a comfort as he ran slightly behind the stranger.

The young woman carved a path through the forest, her brown eyes looking in every direction, forward to safety, her right at the injured man and behind her at those...there was no cool quip she had for the dead chasing her. Her arms stung from the whipping of the branches as she ran for her life; desperate to be going the right way to the cabin she found a few days before. The man, despite his injuries, managed to keep up with the young woman well enough; which allowed the blonde to not worry so much as she led the way. She could feel the relief as she realised that the cabin was not much further, though there was still the slight issue of the dead behind them.

The snarling echoed throughout the woods, and they showed no signs of letting this meal escape, the need to eat being the only thing that drives them. Policemen, shop assistants, daughters, cousins, it made no difference to the ones biting and eating; and it made no difference whom they would then eat. With no sense of direction, they would follow wherever the meal was taking them, and it had to be something of worth to get them off of the scent of fresh food.

Something like a gunshot.

The sound of a gun rippled through the air and caused everything to be still. The dead faltered slightly in their chase, noticing that whatever caused that loud noise was close. A man stood in the woods, holding onto his gun, pride etched onto his face as he hit his target. But it didn't take long for the pride to be replaced by a moment of clarity and impending death; the dead taking preference over the meal that was closer to them.

Daryl heard the gunshot and froze. It was just the one, so it wasn't any rescue attempt. He could feel no fresh rush of pain either, so the shot wasn't aimed at him. But he couldn't see the woman he was following anywhere. He looked around franticly, hoping that she didn't just keep running without him; but then he saw a slight trail of blood to the side of him. Drowning out the sound of the man who shot at them currently being eaten, he followed the trail behind a tree and saw the blonde haired woman slumped with her hand clutching her right shoulder; blood seeping through her fingers. He bent over to her, and moved her hair out of her face to see if she was still conscious.

'Oi, lady, they won't be distracted for long. Can you keep going?'

His blue eyes were looking with desperation in the distant brown ones of the woman who had just been shot. But he needed to know if he should leave her or take her with him. He tapped her face to get her to focus, when she breathed in sharply; he held his finger to his lips telling her to be quiet.

'The guy that shot you is being cleaned out, but they aint gonna stay happy for long. Can you move?'

The blonde had to blink to focus herself away from the hot pain coursing through her shoulder.

'Erm, yeah, we aren't far. Follow...agh...trees have fabric tied...on the branches. Get to a cabin.'

Her body tensed as Daryl helped her up and they started moving forward, keeping focused wasn't easy for her, but she knew it wasn't far. Daryl was impressed as he followed trees, and saw fabric tied to branches leading the way. He turned to look at the woman who was slowing, and stopped as a few of the stray walkers from before started catching up. He pushed her out-of-the-way and held his crossbow to take the closest one out, the soft thumping of the dead hitting the forest floor proving the stealth that a gun didn't bring in this world. Daryl put his crossbow back on his shoulder, hissing as his ribs burned; and went over to the woman who was still on the floor.

'We are close, take the others out, and then we can go. We could get stuck otherwise.' The clarity of her words shocked both of them, and Daryl did as she said, while she slowly got to her feet. Blood loss wasn't as much a fear to her as infection because she didn't have much in the way of medical supplies. But once the other walkers were down, she turned and motioned the man to follow her; after he collected his arrows.

True to her word, there was a cabin, Daryl had been here before. It was where he was holed up with Rick and the others when another group of walkers had them pinned. He stepped forward and held the woman back from just bursting in; she may not have seen all the walkers around it before. Or the man Daryl and the others killed and left for food. He stalked around, crossbow poised and ready to kill. He had to hold in rising bile as all that was left of the man was blood and bones. There wasn't remorse, but it still wasn't easy to see another person like that. He then crept round to the other door, the one without the dead guy and slowly went in, sensing that the woman had followed this time. Luckily, nothing had made it in, and they quickly shut the door, Daryl leading the woman to sit down.

'Ahem, there...there is some stuff in my bag...wipe it on the door to cover our smell, and my blood.' Focused brown eyes were fighting against the pain of her shoulder.

Daryl took the bag from the woman and recoiled as he looked at a plastic tub with

'Shit, are these intestines?' His eyes were wide, as he looked at the slops in a tub. He saw the woman nod weakly, found some gloves and quickly went outside to cover their smell from the walkers outside; they should be finished with the shooter by now and moving to other food. Daryl walked back into the cabin to see the blonde slumped over.

'Wake up Blondie. No time to sleep now, we still need to get our ass's outta here.' The southern drawl spoke in a whisper as he tried to get the woman to open her eyes. Brown eyes fluttered open and stared into blue eyes, determination giving her a second wind. She went to get up, swaying slightly; at least her shoulder had stopped bleeding for the time being.

'I don't know if I can go on much further without any medical attention; but if needs be, I can be a distraction so you can get away.' It took a lot for her to admit defeat, but she had lost too much blood to be able to get anywhere without at least some antibiotics.

Daryl stood stunned; a stranger was prepared to die for him. He knew what he had to do. And it wasn't to leave this woman like they did that crazy man. He watched as the blonde swayed, and then collapsed as she gave in to blood loss.

He needed to take her back to the prison.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Creature Comforts

**We are back to the prison guys, Chapter 2 was a one off flashback to reintroduce the female character! Thank you for the reviews and favourites etc! Please continue to R&R and let me know what you think**

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Each movement was painful and stiff. A groan escaped the lips of the mystery woman as she started to stir and wake up. She was piecing together the events of the past day or so, and started to open her eyes when she saw an older gentleman stood by her bed; leaning on crutches against the cell wall.

'Take it easy lady, you've lost at lot of blood and are still at risk of a slight infection. The bullet went straight through, but all that running didn't help the wound either.' Soft eyes and a gentle voice soothed the woman back into her surroundings.

'Thank you.' Her voice was croaky, and her brown eyes widened at the sight of a bottle of water. 'May I?' She did not want to deprive anyone of this luxury.

The man just smiled back at her. 'Be my guest. You will need it to calm yourself before you meet the others anyway.' A smirk on his face unsettled the blonde guest, but she then noticed he had one leg; so posed no threat.

'My name is Hershel, and I patched you up. I need to tell our leader that you are awake now because he will have some questions for you. Do you think you could answer them?' He didn't want the woman to be bombarded straight away with questions, but he also knew the man that Rick had become. And that meant this woman needed to be questioned.

She nodded, allowing herself to savour the first few sips of water, appreciating the cooling feeling it gave her throat. She slowly moved to sit up, not wanting to be laying down when the leader came in. Her shoulder had a dull ache, and she spotted some tablets, and took them with another gulp of water. Closing her eyes for just a second to take it all in, a small cough brought her back to the present and there stood the leader. He looked rough, his hair long and clothes tattered. But it was his face that stood out. His blue eyes were focused, and held a look that spoke louder than words could.

This was HIS group and he would do ANYTHING to keep it together.

The blonde shuffled under the intense gaze, but she held herself together, waiting.

'My name is Rick.' His southern drawl seemed to soothe the atmosphere which his gazed created.

'Rebecca.'

'You aren't from around here are you?' His eyebrows furrowed as he tried to work out who she was.

Rebecca shook her head, her blonde hair still a mess. 'I'm from England originally, but my parents moved to Atlanta when I was 11. I guess my accents got muddled up.' She attempted to lighten the situation, but to no avail.

'Look Rick, I'm not here to hurt anyone. In fact I wasn't planning on being here at all. I found a guy injured and in the path of...' She was rambling, something that always happened when Rebecca got nervous.

Rick held up a hand for her to stop talking. 'Rebecca, I need to know if you are working for a guy called the Governor, and what you were doing in the woods.'

She frowned as she heard the name "The Governor",

'No, I've never met anyone called the Governor. Honest. It's just me. I've been alone from the start. I always stayed away from other people when this all started happening. I'm not an idiot; things like this never seem to go well for the women in the movies.'

Her words got faster again as she got on, and she was convinced Rick had smirked a little at what she said; which eased her nerves slightly. It seemed that this intense situation had also made her forget the pain in her shoulder; which she quickly remembered as she stood to get up off the bed. The sudden movement caused her to go light headed and Rick instinctively held out a hand to help her steady herself.

'Okay Rebecca, you're okay. How about you get cleaned up, and then we finished our conversation.' His eyes were softer now as the blonde looked at him and smiled. He helped her out of the cell, and called over another older woman with short grey-ish hair.

'Carol, can you get Rebecca here some clothes and show her where the showers are.' The woman nodded at Rick's request and placed a gentle arm around the shoulder of the blonde.

'A shower?!' Rebecca almost had tears in her eyes at hearing such good news. She hadn't had a shower for...too long for it to be socially acceptable. Her brown eyes darted to where a group of people were sitting, obviously waiting to see her and hear whether or not she was dangerous.

Daryl stood up and walked past Carol and Rebecca and went straight to Rick, desperate to know what to do next.

'Is she one of them?' His voice was low, so not to cause alarm or for the woman to hear.

Rick shook his head slightly, 'I don't think she has seen other people for a very long time. No hard ass responses and did you hear how excited she was about having a shower?! Woodbury had all that going on. But we still need to keep an eye on her.'

His voice was light, but still strong in what was being said. Everyone was going to be weary anyway; too much had happened to them before when they brought in new people. The silent Michonne was proof of that.

Daryl nodded, and went to sit back down when instead he turned back to Rick and asked a question that shocked both of them.

'Can I talk to her? I need to know why she did what she did. It's been bugging me since we were at that cabin.' He couldn't hold eye contact with Rick because even asking to talk to the new girl was nerve-racking enough. There was a sigh of relief as Rick nodded.

Then a spine chilling scream echoed through the prison cell block. Rick and Daryl spared no time in grabbing their weapons and making sure everyone stayed sat down. Carl and Maggie were to wait by the doors, and the others were to stay where they were. The two men followed the sound of the scream. Towards the showers. To Carol and Rebecca.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: No Rest for the Living

**Sorry for the late update, work has been getting busy, and I went away for the weekend! Hope you have been enjoying the story so far, thank you to those who have reviewed already! Please continue to R&R!**

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The scream was loud, and would have sent chills down the spine of even the most fearless of people. It had reawakened something in Rebecca that pushed everything she was feeling physically into the back of her mind.

Carol had just handed her some clothes, and turned to leave, Rebecca smiling as she turned on the water and felt it tickle her skin. Then she heard the woman, and pulled the make-shift shower curtain as quickly as she could; and flew out of the shower cubicle. She quickly pushed the older woman behind her and heard as Carol's head hit off the floor of the shower, her brown eyes calculating how to kill this dead bastard.

The shower wasn't a handy place to be caught out, and this half-dead prison could smell dinner. It was an inmate; the blue jumpsuit tarnished with blood and guts, the face of this...thing...was missing an eye, and had a chunk missing out of its shoulder. As the corpses Rebecca has seen go, this one probably hid well enough after being bit so it didn't get pulled to shreds. But the harsh conditions of the prison and the weather had worn down the skin to a light grey and the one remaining eye was a milky white; probably blue in life.

Its mouth snarled and wiry hands reached forward to the blonde, the smell of decomposing hitting Rebecca's nostrils hard; but the gag reflex had long since left her. Currently that was a blessing.

Naturally, she held both her arms out to keep from being eaten, and then the pain brought her back to Earth. She cried out in pain, and panic as the wound had reopened; blood seeping through her under-shirt. Rebecca kicked the legs out from the dead prisoner, and turned, realising that she was trapped between the walker and the still-running shower.

Brown eyes widened as she spotted Carol, still unconscious on the floor, the water soaking her clothes; and Rebecca turned to her, and then felt the strong grip of something hungry grab her ankle. It pulled her down, and all she had to grab onto was the shower curtain; though it didn't soften the blow of her own head crashing against the wet shower floor. Blood started to flow from Rebecca's head as well, and she spun on her back; wrapping the shower curtain around the dead prisoner as it crawled to get it teeth into her. Both were wriggling, desperate to either escape or eat the prize which the shower curtain was wrapping; but the girl was losing.

That was until the wriggling dead body went limp, and she looked into piercing blue eyes; the blood loss slightly swaying her vision. Her brown eyes were focusing on the words that were muffled under her heart beating in her ears, and the adrenaline slowly fading and white hot pain replacing it.

Rick and Daryl rushed in, weapons at the ready; and stood to take everything in. The sound of the shower filled the room, and the scene before them was carnage. Carol was lying unconscious in the shower, and flashes of blonde hair and the grey skin of a walker could be seen tangled in a shower curtain; the only thing protecting Rebecca from being dinner. Daryl shot straight into the head of the walker, and went over to check on Carol while Rick pulled the dead man off Rebecca.

'Are you bit!?' He looked into vacant brown eyes as blood flowed from her head and her arm, the shoulder ripped up worse than when she had first arrived. For a second, her eyes seemed clear, and he asked again.

'Rebecca, are you bit?' His words were clear and forceful, his fingers ghosted over his gun in case he needed to get rid of the danger.

She opened her mouth to speak, but then saw Rick's face changed into the scowl of Daryl, and felt bile rise in her stomach as she was pulled up and shoved under the running water.

'We aint got time to waste Rick.' His face was stern as he stood his ground with the leader. They needed to wash the blood which had covered her clothes to see if there was a bite underneath. Their attention was broken by the noise coming from the shower.

'Ahnnnn.'

Daryl pulled out his own gun and held it at Rebecca's head, convinced that sound only came from something which had already died. Rick put his hand on the gun, and moved it down.

A flash of brown eyes killed any fears that she was a walker, and both men breathed a sigh of relieve. Rick stepped into the shower and started to use the water to wash the blood off the young woman's arms and face. His eyes were looking frantically for a bite or scratch; there was nothing that could be a risk for his son and daughter.

Rebecca started to open her eyes as she felt something other than water touch her. She flinched as she saw Rick in the shower with her, then realised herself that she could have been scratched and wouldn't have noticed.

'I need to make sure you aren't bit, okay Rebecca.' His words were stern, and she looked between him and Daryl; who was shifting his gaze from the young woman.

'Sure, my shoulder has been ripped to shreds trying to stop that thing; but I wasn't bit.' Rebecca could feel the water run all over her, and her clothes were sodden. She went to get up, and Rick, who was also soaked; stepped out of the way as he watched the woman move.

'I would like to clean myself up, and then let Hershel patch me up.' Her blonde hair was now wet and tangled, and her top slightly ripped. 'This isn't the way I wanted to enjoy my first shower.' She joked, and saw Rick's eyes go from a cold leader to a warm person. He nodded, and turned to leave, Daryl on his heels, eager to get out of the shower room.

'Rebecca, if you are scratched, tell us.'

She nodded her head at the leader and smiled. 'Please send a woman in, in about 10 minutes; I will need help getting dressed. I can't move my arm too good.'

Both the men nodded, and Rebecca turned towards the shower; grabbing the shampoo and enjoying the chance to be a little bit human again.

It felt like an hour that Rebecca was in the shower, and she had savoured every moment. Her hair had never felt so clean, and her skin was a fleshly colour again; despite her shoulder which was red raw and stung like a bitch. She reached for some underwear and felt the pang of her shoulder as she dressed herself.

'Hello? Rebecca right?' A quiet, young blonde girl came around the corner, rather timidly. 'Rick asked me to come and check up on you.' Her voice was soft and brought out a smile on Rebecca's face.

'Just in time, I can't get dressed with this shoulder. It's a bit forward, seeing as we just met; but I don't fancy spending the rest of my time in my underwear.

The young girl giggled, 'My name is Beth, Hershel is my dad; and he wants to check on your shoulder.' She had stepped forward more confidently, her eyes still looking around.

'Don't worry Beth, Rick moved him out of the way. They will be burning it soon enough. Now, let's get me dressed so I can face the group and your fearless leader.' Her brown eyes sparkled, and she was dressed in no time. Beth kept giggling while they both worked passed the fact that Rebecca had only one working arm.

'Wow.'

'Beth? You okay?'

'You look different.'

Rebecca scoffed, 'I think everyone does once they have managed to wash off months of blood and sweat. Though I do tend to wait every few months to get a reaction like that from the guys I worked with.' She winked and they both headed through to the rest of the group.

The rest of the group gathered round to see the stranger come out, and they didn't know what to do when they heard laughing come from the corridor. Glenn stood closer to Maggie protectively as they heard Beth returning from the place of danger not even an hour ago. Beth came through with a smile on her face, a rare thing for Maggie to see nowadays, and that eased the tension in her body. But they all stopped as they saw the now clean woman in front of them.

She was about 5''6, and had a naturally slim build; accentuated a bit more as food was also a luxury. Her round brown eyes softened her face, where light freckles painted her nose. They held her smile even if her lips didn't. The blonde hair, still wet, was brushed and fell just passed her shoulders, a slight wave was apparent as it dried. Her wounded arm was held against her chest, in a black tank top; something easier to wear on the raw gunshot. She stepped forward towards Rick, and the rest of the group didn't know what to do; Daryl even went to step in between them both. Rick just simply stepped forward towards the woman, curious as to whom she was.

A slim hand presented itself in front of him, and he took it gently.

'Rick, I am Rebecca Winters. Thank you for saving my life.'


	5. Chapter 5

**Hi Guys, Please Read and Review! I own nothing apart from my O/C!**

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Chapter 5: Cracks in the Glass

Rebecca eased slightly as she watched as Rick shook her hand, feeling that the stares on her back had lessened. She smiled at the man in front of her, but it quickly turned into a frown as she saw a twitch in Rick's blue eyes. Slowly, she withdrew her hand, and looked over to Daryl, hoping that he had noticed as well.

It was the softest noise, almost silent, but Rebecca heard it, and fear gripped her.

'I'm sorry.'

Rick pulled the gun from his belt and held it at Rebecca's head. His eyes were full of pain as he looked into the brown ones of the young woman. Daryl shifted, but made no move to stop Rick from shooting Rebecca, he hung his head as his eyes met Rebecca's; the fear in them about to haunt him for the rest of his life if she was killed.

'Rick.'

It was Beth. The sound of her voice seemed to break some of the tension, though not from Hershel or the brunette that stood behind Rebecca. The young girl stepped closer to the man, the rest of the group were seemingly glued to the ground. Rebecca silently prayed that Beth was either a secret black belt, telepathic or a damn good negotiator.

'Rick. You don't want to do this. She isn't like the others. Like Randall, Tomas or Andrew.' Each step the young girl took was slow and careful, not wanting to make the situation worse.

Rebecca looked in the eyes of Rick again, and could feel the pain in her heart. This group was mourning, or at least should have been. It was Rebecca's turn to try and speak, though her eyes were still willing Daryl to do something. Ass.

'Hey Rick, I know you have no idea who I am. And you don't know if you can trust me But I'm not going to hurt any of you. I owe you.' Rebecca then spotted the wedding ring, but could only count Beth, who was too young, the brunette who was with the Asian guy. Then there was Carol, who must have been with Daryl because of how grateful she was to Rebecca for saving Daryl. His wife was gone.

There was a slight drop of the gun, and Rebecca instinctively took a step back; only to find the gun raised at head again.

'Woah. Okay. You have some questions for me right? My name is Rebecca, I'm 28. I used to be a teacher before all this started. I didn't know how to shoot or hunt, but I was quick and quiet; so I spent most of my time running and hiding. I would scavenge whatever food I could and made sure to stay away from groups of people; especially men.' Rebecca was word-vomiting all she could to stop Rick from shooting her. Her brown eyes searched deep into Rick's, desperate for them to calm and the gun to be put away.

Then Daryl spoke. 'Rick. She saved my life, an' Carol's. Let's have Hershel patch her up and then we can decide what to do with her.'

There was a tone of authority in his voice, and the weight of it caused Rick to look away from his intended target and to the other man. His right-hand man. Rick nodded slowly and put the gun away, and the sound of Rebecca releasing a breath was all that could be heard. Beth, by that point was stood right next to her, and gave Rick a look of uncertainty. Whatever this man was going through, it wasn't helping the group.

'Fine, Hershel will fix you, and then we are square. Then you can leave.' His eyes were now fierce.

_So much for deciding afterwards._ Rebecca thought, but followed Hershel back to the cell she woke up in. The tension could still be felt among the group and Beth made sure she went with Rebecca, for moral support.

Hershel got Rebecca to sit down and pull the strap down from her tank top so he could see the wound better. She sat there, feeling a little exposed, but still weary of their leader coming into the cell just to shoot her. Hershel could see the young woman was on edge and waiting for something to happen, and he only managed to get her attention when he dabbed some alcohol on her shoulder.

'Sonuvabitch.' She cursed, her face in a frown as pain took hold of her shoulder. Her eyes looked at those in the cell with her, and she could see a concerned look on the face of Beth, maybe the young girl was scared of Rick coming in as well.

'You keep still now Rebecca, this is going to take a couple of days before the wound becomes easier to manage with. Ripping it more didn't really help now did it.' Hershel's eyes were soft as he said that, not meaning it seriously. It calmed Rebecca to know she wasn't public enemy number one for all of them.

He then turned to Beth and reached for his crutches, 'I should tell Rick we need to keep you here for a few days, just until you can move your arm better.'

Rebecca scoffed, 'I'm sure he will love me here for longer. When I first spoke to him, I had no idea he would do that.' She knew that he was hurting, but still couldn't believe after saving her life; he still was going to kill her.

Hershel came back into the cell, and spoke a bit softer. 'Now, Rebecca, you have no idea what has happened when we have let other people stay with us, or even next to us. It's been a long year, and we have lost people. But we've been through that together. Now, Rick has lost a lot, and some of that may be down to poor judgement. So, I don't think he is even ready to give another person a chance. Not now.'

'Since his wife died?' Her eyes were inquisitive. 'I saw the wedding ring, and paired up the rest of women here...well, not you Beth, but you are still young.' Rebecca smiled at the younger blonde, who smiled back and move closer to the bed where Rebecca was perched on.

Hershel simply nodded and left to talk to Rick. Rebecca then turned to the girl stood right next to where she sat. 'So, what's it with you little-miss-bad-ass, approaching a man with a gun to someone's head. Didn't take you as the type.' Despite the constant pain of her shoulder, Rebecca still managed to wink at Beth, causing a small chuckle to escape both their lips.

'I'm not, but I couldn't watch another person die. Especially the person who has saved people in this group. Besides, you treat me differently to the others.' Beth has started twirling her hair, and shifting her feet as a distraction.

'How do you mean? I've only just met you.' Rebecca felt a slight tug of responsibility to the teenager, Beth reminded her of herself when she was that age. Unsure of where and how she fit in with the social order of things. Not that there was much a social order now everyone was simply dinner for something else.

'Well, you don't treat me like a kid. Everyone sees a sixteen year old who can't fight, barely shoot and makes a weak cup of tea. But you're not like that...' She was cut off by a deep grunt as someone made their presence known, stood in the door way of the cell.

Blue eyes stared into brown eyes, and Beth quickly left.

Daryl stood, held his gaze while shouldering his cross-bow.

'We need to talk.'


	6. Chapter 6

**Hi guys, thanks for your reviews! Hope you enjoy this next chapter, I'm starting to get excited about where the story is going! Just a heads up, but I'm from the UK, so some words might be different to any American/Canadian readers throughout the story! Please R&R! :)**

Chapter 6: Small World

Rebecca motioned for the dark haired man to come in and sit next to her on the bed, but he only shook his head; and fear crept back into her stomach. She hadn't been introduced to him yet, but was holding hope that saving his life before would have come in handy. Sensing the indecency of having her strap down on her tank-top, Rebecca winced as she pulled the strap back on, gently over the gauze taped to her shoulder; placing some of her drying blonde hair over it as well just for more coverage.

Daryl just stood, unsure where to look as he saw her top wasn't fully on, but had a wave of relief wash over him as the blonde sorted herself out. However, as practical as a tank top was for gunshots, it didn't give her much decency in the first place, not that Daryl ever looked; that was more his brother's style. He could tell that his presence was tense of Rebecca, and a small part of him wanted that to not be the case, after all the stranger had saved his life. The silence remained that way for what felt like hours, but was in fact only a few minutes, and it was Rebecca who plucked up the courage to speak first.

'How's your partner?' She hoped reminding him of the fact that she saved Carol's life, would change the outcome of whatever he was there for to talk to her about.

His blue eyes narrowed, hardly noticeable under his growing brown hair, 'Rick is okay, he just needs time, and for strangers not to get us killed.'

The answer caused Rebecca's eyes to widen, and Daryl suddenly felt uncomfortable. She shifted her gaze, feeling awkward at the assumption she made.

'Oh, sorry. I thought Rick was married. I guess I shouldn't assume these things.' Rebecca looked at the shocked face in front of her. Something wasn't adding up in their conversation.

'What the hell are ya on about lady?' The southern drawl was more prominent in the man's voice, alongside confusion. His eyes studied her whole body language; and he saw that the harshness of his voice made the woman tense again.

Rebecca started stammering, and then came the word vomit,

'Well, I meant Carol, I figured you two were together considering how she all but gave me an award for bringing you back; even though I didn't bring you back. But I didn't realise that you and Rick were...'

'You don' know when to shut ya mouth do ya lady?'

The blonde smirked slightly and shook her head, 'I get like that when I'm nervous. I meant to ask how Carol was.'

Daryl's face turned a subtle red, hardly noticeable under all the grime and dirt already on plastered all over him. Rebecca figured he wasn't one to wash all the time, probably always dirty so didn't see the point in constantly cleaning what would eventually get dirty again.

'Me an' her aint anythin' and Me an' Rick aint either,' He watched the reaction on Rebecca's face, and was convinced relief had washed over her, and maybe a slight smile in her eyes as she took in the information.

She held up her good hand, 'Sorry, my mistake. Though, I have a name, you don't need to call me lady all the time...and I figure you have a name too.' She clearly opened the question to find out about the stranger in her cell.

'I wouldn' be too sure about ya figuring out, look at what ya figured out last time Becca.' His feet shuffled on the spot slightly, and he felt slight music to his ears as the young woman started laughing at his comment. Daryl frowned, not sure how to take this reaction, she seemed easy enough to talk to; but that made him only the more uncomfortable.

'What ya so damn happy about all the time fer?' His voice sounded harsh, and a little jealous, Rebecca clearly hadn't been through what they had when the dead started having the living for breakfast.

'If we don't laugh, we die.' Her whole body language changed, and her eyes no longer held the laughter, but sadness. Maybe Daryl was wrong about her.

'I still don't know your name, or why your here. If it's to get answers out of me, please just ask the question, there is no torture necessary. I would give in as soon as you broke a nail, let alone my fingers.' Rebecca relied on a kind of humour to break the tension, and Daryl appreciated the effort, but this was no laughing matter.

'Daryl.' He watched Rebecca nod her head in appreciation for the answer.

'Well, Daryl, welcome to my humble abode. Please mind the brain matter on the walls, things got ugly with a neigh...'

'Shut it. Stop will ya' He slammed a fist hard on the desk in the cell and it caused the medical equipment to rattle and the bottle of water to fall to the floor. Daryl bent down to pick it up, still angry at the blatant nonchalant attitude this woman had. Though he felt a twinge of guilt as he looked up and handed the wounded blonde the water to drink.

Her eyes were full of fear, and she trembled slightly at his reaction. Rebecca hung her head in defeat and apology, not realising she would have offended Daryl so easily; though sometimes her way of dealing with things did get her into trouble. The slight voices from outside the cell stopped, and slowly picked up again as they heard no screaming or guns being fired in there. Besides, Rick was in no shape to handle this situation, but someone had decided that Daryl was.

'I wanna know why Becca?'

Her voice was meek, her head still slightly bowed. 'Why what?'

'Why you saved ma life, why ya got shot, why ya did what ya did wi' Carol. You don' know me, but still you came outta tha woods like some sorta angel savin' the day.'

Rebecca looked at Daryl, and could see anger in the blue eyes, and could tell that Daryl didn't like not knowing what made his life so important that she would risk hers.

She took a breath, and decided to answer the question, playing with the water bottle in her hands.

'I found that cabin after a couple of days of staying in trees or not sleeping at all, and thought it was too good to be true. I was scouting for some food, planned to stay at that cabin until I felt it right to move on. I was just wandering around, and then I heard a shit load of gunfire coming from the direction I was headed too. There were a few people having a gun battle with the dead, but they were just attracting more. I heard some shouting about Woodbury, or something like that; but I don't know the area so paid no attention.'

She could see Daryl squirm as she spoke, but carried on.

'Something about being overrun after some attack. I stayed out of the way, they were making too much noise. Then I saw a backpack on the ground, so I took it and ran. Ran until I come across a man wounded on the floor. He was bit, and I could see in his eyes that he knew it was over. I went over to him, I don't know why, I could have kept on running. But I couldn't watch someone go through that. The way he was stuttering, the fever had clearly taken hold, but there was a moment of clarity in his eyes and he looked at me. He wanted to be put down.'

Rebecca's voice cracked slightly as she remembered what happened before they had met, this being the first time she could digest it.

'There was a gun in the bag I stole, and he simply nodded, and whispered something to be. Asking me to look out for his brother. He was delusional, but there was truth and love in his eyes, so I simply nodded. I hadn't noticed his other arm before, it was covered in something, but I didn't study the guy.'

Rebecca was shaking by this point,

'I had never had to take a human out before, and I couldn't do it. So I gave the gun to the man. He said something like "see ya later Lina." And then bang.' He was gone. That guy caught up and started yelling about stealing his bag, so I high tailed it out of there, but the gunshot put all those walkers on his ass too. So I ran. And then I found you.' Tears were silently falling down Rebecca's face, and she could see a change in the man in front of her. No longer defiant or authoritarian, but rather it was full of hurt and loss.

He simply whispered, 'See ya later Darylina.' And left the cell, feeling the most alone he had ever felt before.

Rebecca's eyes grew wide.

Daryl was that man's brother.

Merle was dead.


	7. Chapter 7

**Hi, hope you are enjoying the story! Please continue to read and review! This has no spoilers past 3x08 and is not following the script! I own nothing apart from my OC Rebecca!**

Chapter 7: Misplaced Anger

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Daryl stumbled out of the cell, and could see pairs of eyes watching him, waiting for him to go back to them to tell them what he learned about the woman in the cell. He staggered over, not listening to any questions the rest of the group had. He didn't pay any attention, just replaying what Rebecca had told him.

Merle was gone.

Turned out no one could kill Merle but Merle.

But still. Daryl was alone.

Or was he?

His stomach sunk as soon as that thought crossed his mind, how could think that way about his family. He couldn't keep listening to the constant questions, and felt like the walls were caving in. It wasn't until Glen stepped a too close that Daryl lashed out, and pushed the young Asian; then silence fell on the room.

His blue eyes blurred over the group, and a rage boiled inside. Not at them, but at himself, and at Merle and his mother and father. And all those assholes who put him down. He was angry at everyone.

'Leave me alone, all a'ya'.' He walked off, shoulders tense, and didn't want to bother listening to the whispers and gossip that the group had to offer. Rick wasn't around either, so he didn't have to explain himself to anyone any one. Rick wasn't his brother anyway.

It didn't take him long before he was outside, or even if it did; he never noticed. He just needed to get out of the prison. Out of the prison, but it didn't feel far enough still for Daryl. The air was sharp against his lungs, and he felt his legs give out from under him. The sky was spinning as he lay on his back on the grass. Flashes of Merle mixed in with the clouds, and his stomach grew tight. It took all the effort he could to rock himself onto his side and vomit all that was left in his stomach, which wasn't much.

* * *

Rebecca just sat in her cell, mouth open slightly, and tears making her eyes seem bigger, and softer. There were no words to describe what had just happened. Surely it was impossible that she had been with Daryl's brother in his last moments. She was trying to piece together the massive jigsaw that was the past two days. It took that much of her concentration that she never noticed the visitor in her cell, not until a strange hand pressed into her bad shoulder.

'Aghhhh, what the hell?'

Her eyes were wide with pain and rage as she pushed away from the man gripping onto her. She hadn't met this man yet, but figured he had something to do with the brunette woman who Rebecca was yet to be acquainted with. She took in his beat up face, and tried to dodge out of his grip which was surprisingly strong on her arm, which started to bleed through the gauze. It took a swift kick to the Asian guy's ribs, and Beth, that brunette and a kid to get him away. A part of Rebecca thought there was just room in this prison for more and more survivors coming out like in a clown car.

Rebecca felt venom in her veins, there was no need for her to have been attacked like that, especially by someone she doesn't know. The others had managed to subdue the man, and all they could hear was his heavy breathing, though Rebecca wondered if they could hear the anger coursing through her body. Gripping her arm, she hissed at the pain, and even Beth cowered from the fire in Rebecca's brown eyes.

'You piece of shit, I don't deserve this bi-polar behaviour from any of you. All I have done is save the lives of people in this group. Starting to wish I ran straight passed Daryl. All I have got from you guys is a wrecked shoulder. Now, will one of you kindly explain what is going on?'

The man, who Rebecca heard was named Glenn in all the shouting and commotion, just scoffed and looked at the blonde, seething. He just ripped his arms out of the grip Beth and the others had him in and stalked off, and Rebecca was pretty sure he called her a bitch at some point too. She pushed herself passed the group who were clearly overcrowding her new 'home'.

'Sorry, you don't get to storm away like some pissy teenager. I want an explanation. And I want it now.' Rebecca was no longer calm, or trying to be funny. She was pissed, and exhausted.

Glenn turned on his heels and was making his way back into her face, but he spoke quietly, his words direct and heavy.

'I have had enough of being everyone's punch bag. And I have had enough of people like you coming in and wrecking everything. Just leave.'

He then turned and walked away, with the brunette rushing behind him, Hershel stood by the main gates where they all seemed to congregate and watched as Glenn stormed passed him. His eyes caught Rebecca's, and he could see the unspoken pain and fury in them, but a slight glimmer of hope as well; there was still something keeping this girl alive and that might prove useful to a breaking group.

Rebecca turned swiftly to Beth, and took a deep breath before she addressed the slightly shaking young woman. 'Beth. What was that all about?' Again, her eyes started to water as she held onto her shoulder. Luckily, Glenn hadn't caused too much damage, no more that what she had caused herself saving Carol.

'Daryl came out all crazy an' stuff, and he just pushed Glenn over. Then he stormed off.' Beth spoke quietly, and her voice was shaking too. 'It's been a crazy couple of days.'

'And did anyone go and check on Daryl, or was my room the first stop on this crazy ass prison tour?' She smirked a little at the reappearance of her humour, even if it was slightly tainted by bitterness at the situation. But that bitterness just increased as she watched Beth shake her head.

'Glenn just marched in here. I've never seen him like that. Some guy called Merle did all that too him.'

'Someone called Merle decorated his face? Was Merle a member of the group?'

Beth shrugged, 'Not when I and my family joined. Maggie is my sister, and she's with Glenn. I think something happened with Merle long before we met the group. But I was always surprised that Daryl stuck around.'

Brown eyes narrowed. 'What's Daryl got to do with Merle?'

'Well they are brothers.'

In that moment, Rebecca felt like she was going to be sick. Things were more than messed up with this group than she thought possible. She gripped Beth with her one good arm. 'We need to find Daryl NOW.'

She then broke into a run to the gate, Beth quickly chasing after her.

'Hershel, HERSHEL. I need to get outside and now. We need to find Daryl.'

Hershel could be seen coming out of the cell in which Carol was in, and Rick was in tow behind him. He looked like he simply needed a reason to put a bullet in Rebecca's head, and currently Glenn had given some help behind that. She saw Rick's hand ghost over his gun, and felt annoyed as she spotted Glenn come bursting through as well; Maggie trying to hold him back.

Rick's eyes pierced through Rebecca, 'You need to start talking now.' His southern drawl felt harsh towards the blonde.

'Keep the gun, and your Rottweiler away.' Rebecca frowned at Glenn, whose rage was causing him to shake. Rick nodded in agreement and held his hands flat by his side.

'Before I saved Daryl, I ran into a guy who had been bit by one of those things.'

'Walkers'. Beth whispered

'Right, walkers. Anyway, I stayed with that man until he...opted out.'

Rick was getting impatient. 'Rebecca, you better have a point to this story.'

She rolled her eyes, 'That man, who I watched die was Daryl's brother. And we need to find him now, before he does something stupid and gets himself killed. Or eaten.'

It was Maggie's turn to speak, and it was alien to Rebecca's ears.

'He wouldn't. Would he? He is one of us?'

Rebecca laughed sharply, and all eyes were on her again, 'His brother is dead. Even without those walkers or whatever, I can't imagine Daryl would react to things like this in any rational way.' The gravity of her words lingered heavily in the room, and the young kid stepped forward with some keys, and seemingly led the way to the prison yard.

The light was bright and flooded Rebecca's eyes, and as soon as they adjusted, she scanned the yard, hearing the others call out for Daryl as well. She could feel Beth's presence next to her. 'What's that?' Beth pointed at something heaped on the ground.

They approached the heap, and Rebecca bent down to pick it up. It was a waistcoat, with wings on the back. A weight of responsibility fell on Rebecca's shoulders.

'Hey, what did Rick do when his wife died?' She asked, but they both already knew the answer.

'He looked for her body...you don't think?'

Rebecca nodded, 'He's gone to find Merle's body.'

Now it was Beth's turn to surprise Rebecca. 'Shit.'


	8. Chapter 8

**Hi Guys, sorry its been so long. Work is busy! Been loving the second half of Season 3 :) Thank you to all those who have reviewed, and followed and favorited! It means a lot to know people are reading!**

**Please continue to read and review! Its going to be a slow building story, but hopefully still enjoyable! I own nothing apart from my OC Rebecca**

Chapter Eight: Whispers louder than shouts.

* * *

Maggie stood defiantly, with her arms folded and a scowl etched onto her face, blue eyes narrowed with panic and annoyance.

'Beth, you ain't going with that girl. You can stay here, let her go and chase Daryl in the woods.'

Rebecca shifted under the sudden awkwardness of the situation which she stood in the middle of, and was partly responsible for. She kept a grip on her shoulder, which continued to ache with a rhythmic dull throb, but at least the bleeding had stopped. The sun beat down on the group as they stood in the yard, all staring at the piece of clothing Beth held in her hands.

'Her name is Rebecca, and I want to go with her. You can't tell me what to do.' The young blonde mirrored her older sister in the way she stood and the determination in her voice.

Rebecca looked into Maggie's eyes, and felt even worse. All she had done was cause tension in the group, by saving Daryl's life ironically. Her brown eyes shifted from Maggie's intense glare, to a blade of yellowing grass; and she kept her focus on that blade of grass until she heard voices being raised.

'Beth. Maggie is right. You can't come with me. I can't risk not bringing you back when I only have one arm.'

Rebecca stepped forward, and her voice seemed to stop everyone else that was outside and place their eyes onto her. Rick also moved slightly, ready to do what he thought was necessary in this situation. Beth seemed to back down when she saw Rick move, but her eyes still pleaded with Rebecca to change her mind. She simply shook her head, blonde hair falling into her face, there was no way Rebecca would have Beth's blood on her hands.

Rick stepped forward, and gestured for Rebecca to follow him away from the group, and she did; weary of the slightly glazed look in the leader's eyes.

His voice was nothing but a whisper,

'What makes you think you even know Daryl. You have no idea where he is.' Exhaustion weighed heavy on the man's words, and Rebecca felt sympathy towards to man stood before her.

'Rick, I am not here to hurt anyone, or do anything against your group. You've done nothing but help me. And, I don't know the slightest thing about Daryl; but I know that if I had just met some stranger who watched a family member kill themselves...I would want to make sure it was true. And that they were buried. Not eaten.' Rebecca watched as Rick physically coiled from her words, and his cold blue eyes started to glaze over; if she didn't know any better, she would say Rick was close to tears.

He let out a gasp of air, trying desperately to hold onto his composure, but it was not enough to stop a few tears from falling down his tired and dirty face. Rick turned his back on Rebecca to take a few more deep breaths, running his hands through his dark hair. The blonde stepped forward and placed a hand on Rick's shoulder,

'I am so sorry for what happened to her. Really I am. I didn't know. But, one thing I do know is that Daryl needs help, he isn't thinking straight and that puts this group in danger too. I will go and try to bring him back Rick. Let me help you guys.' Her words were soft and sincere, and she felt some tension leave Rick, causing her to release the breath she was holding. He turned back to face her, and could see the rest of the group impatiently waiting on them both, Carl kept his gaze on them both without blinking; his young hands ghosting over the gun he held.

Rick bowed his head slightly, and rubbed his stubble which coloured his face. 'I will come with you then. You said so yourself, you're useless with one arm.' He looked into Rebecca's eyes, the cold stare trying hard to cover up the cracks.

Rebecca shook her head, and cupped her good hand on Rick's cheek, the touch unfamiliar to the man from anyone other than his wife. He went to move, but she held her grip and her gaze.

'Rick. You aren't thinking straight. You need to sleep, eat, hell, wash. I may be no good with one arm, but you are worse without your head in the game. Grieve for your wife; take a few days to refocus yourself. You could get us all killed if you come, and then how does that help anyone. I'll take Glenn, but you need to tell him that. I doubt he will come willingly.'

Again Rick found himself breathing heavily to control his emotions. He leant ever so slightly into Rebecca's hand, which still stayed cupped around his face, but he knew it wasn't Lori touching him, so he quickly moved out of the grip.

'Glenn can stay here look after the rest of the group, _we _will go and find Daryl. I can sleep when I get back.' His shoulder knocked into Rebecca's as he walked back to the group, causing the blonde to hiss slightly at the pain; the rhythmic throb now a steady beat.

She stood and watched as the broken man led the broken people, and wondered why she was even staying with them. They were being picked off, piece by piece. And what made it worse, was that is wasn't the dead walking and eating the living that was killing them. It was other people. Survivors. The very people, who were once neighbours and would take each other's kids to school, were the ones destroying lives and killing the chance to beat the plague. Rebecca shook her head slightly; there was a safer feeling in the idea of going back out there than there was staying with these people.

Then she watched as the young kid nodded his head towards Rick, and the older man placed an awkward, but necessary hand on the boy's back. Father and Son. As Maggie, calmer than what she was before, put an arm around Beth, while holding Glen's hand. Love. That is what this group had. These people may not have been neighbours, but they were now family.

An ache from deep in Rebecca's gut took all her attention away from her shoulder; this is what she missed from surviving on her own. Tears welled up in the brown eyes of the blonde haired woman, and the sound of the gate behind her opening caused her to jump, quickly rubbing the tears away. Hershel was limping with his crutches, with Carol walking alongside him, her skin a pale pink; but her face was bright with worry.

Rick started walking towards them, and stopped next to Rebecca, and they walked towards the pair together; in silence and with tension deep in their shoulders. Rick started to look for something, and Rebecca couldn't register what had got his attention. But Hershel knew.

'Judith is asleep; I gave her a bottle and put her down. Though we are going to need more and soon. She is eating like a horse currently. This is a good thing, in ordinary circumstances; but not when we aren't the only things that occupy all the shops.'

Rebecca's eyes widened slightly as the realisation dawned on her that the baby she heard before was Rick's. A baby was dangerous, but a miracle in a world like it is now. Something coming close to Rebecca caused her to come out of her head, and brace herself for the oncoming figure. It was Carol, hugging her as best she could without damaging the shoulder even more. Carol's gaze was intense, yet tender, no resentment or fear hid behind them when she looked at Rebecca.

Her voice was soft, naturally, but more so because of the situation. 'Hershel told me what happened. That Daryl has left. If you know where he is, bring him back. We need him. I...need him.' The desperation lingered with her words, and Rebecca, although slightly confused about the relationship between the two, could feel the burning plea in the woman's words.

Rebecca nodded, and placed a hand on the back of the older woman hugging her, and simply whispered into her ear,

'I promise.'

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**What do we think guys? How are we finding Rebecca! Constructive pointers please :)**


	9. Chapter 9

**Sorry for the delay, work has been mightly busy! Hope you enjoy this chapter! No spoilers for the current season 3 please! **

Chapter Nine

Quality Time

Rebecca grimaced slightly as she tested the movement in her shoulder. Although it was awfully kind of Hershel to bind it like he did to stop any infection from occurring while Rick and herself went to look for Daryl; it still hurt like a bitch. Beth had also been kind enough to pull Rebecca's hair into a ponytail, keeping it out of her face; maybe it was a family thing. Well, it might have been, if Maggie still was not annoyed at the newcomer. Rebecca just shook her head, knowing that not everyone could be please; not even in an apocalypse.

The air was warm, and it meant that they needed to take plenty of water with them, but Rick needed to carry it because Rebecca was still nursing a very recent wound. Beth tried to argue that they needed another pair of hands to help them, but Rick was rather adamant that he did not want anyone else to leave the prison; especially considering the potential of an imminent attack.

Silence.

That was all that occupied the journey between Rick and Rebecca. There was no birds cawing, or leaves rustling; or dead eating. That was until about 20 minutes into their search for Daryl.

'Shit'

It was merely a whisper from the young woman, but was enough to catch the attention of Rick. She stood deathly still, and her brown eyes were trained in front of her; 6 walkers were just up ahead, ambling with no real direction or purpose. Then they turned, the wind had been blowing behind them, and it seemed as though the dead could smell that a meal was close by. Rick motioned to hide behind a set of bushes, but Rebecca shook her head, it was too late. They had already started limping towards them.

Rick pulled out his gun, but Rebecca quickly pushed it down as he went to take aim.

'Are you kidding me? All the walkers in the woods will hear it, and I don't think a girl with one arm and a trigger happy man will be much of a match for them. Also, I don't think Daryl will appreciate it either, he is somewhere in these woods as well.' Her voiced was hushed and her words came out quickly; Rick was lucky to understand them in the short space of time. But Rick was not prepared for what happened next.

Rebecca got out her knife from her custom made belt which Carl gave her as they were leaving, and sliced into her hand; then ran towards the walkers. Rick took the time to find cover next to a tree while he watched the young woman run with blood dripping down her hand towards the dead people. He then moved closer as they all followed the woman, chasing after her as she turned left; while still running away from Rick. His blue eyes were wide with confusion, fear and a twinge of awe, and he stalked to try and follow where the woman had gone. His feet were light on the ground because that time from the farm to the prison had meant that the whole group could be a bit more careful; all thanks to Daryl. Rick felt a pang of guilt in his gut, Daryl was a core member of the group, and besides Carl; a big factor in what was keeping Rick alive.

He had not walked too far, when he heard the rustling of leaves behind him, narrow eyes waited for the cause of the noise to attack him. Rick held his gun steady in his hand, knowing that it was not the weapon of choice for the woods; but he was not going to risk getting too close to the dead.

'Woah, it's me. Put the gun away.' Rebecca jumped at the sight of the fractured leader holding a gun at her, again.

Rick blinked, and walked over to the young woman, who was very grimy and had seemingly used a sleeve of a shirt Beth gave Rebecca as they left; which has been tied to her waist- to wrap her hand. 'What the hell are you playing at? You could have gotten lost, or killed.' His voice was low, and the genuine panic was not lost by Rebecca.

'It's okay. I got them to follow the scent of my blood. It did not take me long to realise why and how the dead know you are around; no matter how still you try to be.' Her eyes flashed darker for the briefest of moments, and then she started walking ahead.

A strong arm pulled her around, and she was met with a tough glare from Rick. 'Where have they gone? Surely they are just following you back here?'

She shook her head, her blonde hair bobbing in the ponytail, dirt smeared on her face, 'I ran faster than them, managed to wipe my hands on a few trees before doubling back. I waited to make sure they had followed ahead to where I was, then took out the one coming from behind; used its blood to cover my tracks on the way back.' Rebecca lifted her feet up and Rick could see the outline of gunk that she had probably stepped in to run back to him and cover her smell.

'So, let me guess. Daddy taught you everything you know, and you are just perfect for the state of the world now.' Rick huffed slightly as he heard the ridiculous account of how Rebecca managed to escape.

Rebecca closed the gap between them both, and her whole face changed from unusual happiness to cold and calculated. 'Rick. You do not know anything about me. Anything that I do is what I had to learn the hard way. Trial and error in some cases. Luckily, this was more trial, less error. I cannot say the same for others. '

'I thought you were never with a group, that you knew what happened to women from the films.' Blue eyes bore into brown ones, desperate to work out the enigma that was Rebecca.

'Hmm, I did say I was never with a group. Does not mean I didn't see people die. I am an opportunist now, but that took practise.' She had started walking and this time Rick followed.

* * *

Another twenty minutes seemed to pass, and they walked in relative silence, no walkers seemed to be anywhere around them; and they were on hyper vigilance mode-if there ever was such a thing. The trees did little to make the air feel less heavy, but Rebecca was grateful that there was plenty of shade as she walked; sweat literally dripping off her. She ached, but did not complain. All Rick could think of was what she had said before, about watching people die. He suddenly felt threatened, but also could not match up the fact that she was helping him find Daryl, where was the opportunist in that?

'Rick, I can hear you thinking, do you mind being a bit quieter; I'm trying to concentrate. ' Rebecca smiled warmly to the tired looking man, who could feel a smile growing on his face; dissipating all the threat this woman seemed to hold.

'Why are you doing this? After all you told me before. Where is the opportunity in coming out injured to help find someone who you've never met before?' Rick looked at his feet as they continued to walk.

Rebecca smiled to herself, 'I never said I wanted to be an opportunist. Besides, I think spending almost a year pretty much by myself means I am at least third best at knowing where these woods end up, after Daryl and that kid of yours.' Again, she smiledd at Rick and he could not help but smirk back.' And, how else do you suggest I perfect my communication skills? It's not every day the man who would rather kill you than welcome you follows you into the woods.'

Rick's eyes faltered slightly, 'It is not an easy time for us Rebecca and we have been through a lot as a family. Strangers have not been the blessing in disguise you wish them to be.'

Rebecca's voice wavered ever so much, 'You have to believe that I am here to help you find Daryl. Then if you want, I can go. I have done a lot to try and gain your trust, but maybe I am kidding myself that it's time to be a part of something bigger.'

Rick stopped walking, and simply looked at the wounded and dirty woman in front of him. He could see those round brown eyes, and for the first time; felt a pang of guilt that he had made her brief time with the group painful and tiring. Despite the fact that she had saved the lives of Daryl and Carol, so maybe he was being unfair. But there was something stopping him from accepting her, and it became a constant reminder as he looked at the weathered band on his left hand. He looked at Rebecca again, this time confused, certain he heard her say something.

'Excuse me?' Blue eyes frowned slightly, straining to hear Rebecca.

She walked closer Rick, 'I'm sorry.'

Then, for Rick, the ground suddenly took his weight and blackness took his mind.

**Ooooo, cliff hanger of sorts! Can Rebecca be trusted?**


	10. Chapter 10

**Stronger Language in this chapter! But it follows our favourite Redneck. Enjoy :)**

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Chapter Ten

Thanks for the Memories

Leaves were crunching under the heavy footsteps, all grace once found in those feet now replaced with a sudden urgency. Twigs snapped, and the sounds echoed through the trees, but blue eyes were vigilant; searching for any unnatural movements coming his way. As he moved through the woods, it was as though the rest of the creatures knew to not get in his way; Daryl Dixon was pissed.

Or was he?

He could not put a word on what he was going through, and that is what pissed him off, not what the stranger had told him.

_Sonuvabitch. Just had ta' follow me out. Instead he prolly went looking for the Governor. Ass. _

Daryl soon chastised himself for thinking of his brother like that, but it was probably what Merle did to get himself killed. He stopped himself suddenly, taking in the environment and holding back a wave of emotion. All he could think of was things that happened as they were growing up.

'_Merle. MERLE.' Daryl wandered through the dingy kitchen, with a box of cereal in his small hands. His face and hands were dirty from digging out in the garden, and his jeans were ripped at the knees. He knew his mother was dead to the world upstairs and that his dad was out at work, so Daryl could shout as loud as he wanted for his brother. Family life was interesting for the younger Dixon, but the innocence in the blue eyes had not all but disappeared; but it was going rapidly. A small rumbled erupted from the boy's stomach, and Daryl frowned whilst he started walking up the stairs. _

'_One. Two. Three.' His little legs stretched to climb up the stairs, one hand gripping tight on the banister, the other hand still holding the cereal. Once he got to the top, and regained his breath, Daryl slowly approached the door to his brother's room. A sight escaped the lips of the young boy, and he raised his hand to knock on the door. _

'_Daryl. Where are ya' you little punk.' _

_Blue eyes widened, first in fear then with a smile. Daryl had almost dropped the cereal on the floor, but his grip was strong; and he ran back to the stairs as fast as his little legs could take him. Knowing he could not climb down as fast, he decided to go down the stairs on his behind; still holding on to the cereal box. _

'_Hurry ya' ass up. Aint got all day.' Merle stood waiting for his little brother to finish bumping his way down the stairs. He was in his trademark white tank top and held a cigarette to his mouth, also needing a shower. _

'_Where have ya been Merle? I ha' missed ya.' Daryl looked up to his brother and pouted slightly, it had been two days since Merle was last home; but luckily enough, neither had their dad._

'_Get ya' ass in the kitchen', Merle pushed his brother into the kitchen, taking a drag on his cigarette and watching his little brother cling onto a box of what was probably stale cereal. Not that Daryl knew any different anyway, which caused a pang of guilt in the older Dixon's stomach. He watched as his brother climbed into the chair next to the kitchen table and pulled his bowl closer to where he sat. Daryl then passed the cereal box for Merle to pour and then waited for the milk, there was only enough for one bowl of cereal, so Merle made the note to somehow get some more. _

_Daryl put a spoon of the cereal in his mouth, and milk dribbled slightly down his chin as he opened his mouth, 'Where did ya go? Was it a...' He lowered his voice and scrunched his nose slightly. 'a girl?'_

_Merle let out a hearty laugh and stubbed his cigarette in the ashtray next to the sink, 'You will find out one day Darylina.'_

'_I told you, my name is Daryl.' Blue eyes frowned at his brother, which caused another laugh to erupt from the older brother. _

'_Well, Daryl, if you must know, I was out getting this.' Merle held a blue Swiss army knife in the palm of his hand, and watched as Daryl's eyes widened as he put down his spoon._

'_Is that for me?' Daryl had stopped chewing and just sat with his mouth open. He could not contain the excitement as his brother nodded his head. He got down from the table and took it from Merle, holding it with awe and joy in his face. _

_Merle smiled at his younger brother, then ruffled his brown hair, 'Happy 5__th__ Birthday Darylina.' _

_Daryl was too engrossed in the present to even hear what Merle had called him, and just wandered back off into the garden, leaving Merle to sit and finish the cereal. _

Daryl shook his head, threatening himself to not cry as he picked himself up, not realising that he had even fallen to the ground. If he closed his eyes hard enough, he could almost taste the cereal, and smell the cigarettes. A feral growl brought him out of his daze long enough to see an emaciate corpse start to walk over to him, dragging his left ankle behind him. It did not take long for the seasoned hunter to put the walker down with a bolt from his crossbow, but all Daryl could see was red. He stormed over to the dead man on the floor and just saw his brother, a rage boiled over and he punched the man repeatedly

Hit

Hit

Hit

All that was left was blood and brain. Daryl just stared at the whole which would have been that man's face, and could not help but remember.

_Daryl sat in his room, holding his Swiss army knife in one hand and a wooden stick in the other. He was shaving the wood down to make a bolt, as well as an attempt to drown out the sounds from next door. Merle had not been out of jail long, and despite that fact, he still managed to bring someone home. _

_His room was pretty bare, but Daryl was okay with that, the only real keepsake was a framed picture of his mother holding him as a baby with a ten-year old Merle stood next to her; smiles all round. Daryl kept it high on his wardrobe so his dad would not notice it when he was in one of his moods. _

_The sound of a door shutting made Daryl jump and drop the bolt, but the opening of his bedroom door caused him to hit his head off the desk where the bolt had rolled too. _

'_Shit, that hurt. Merle what do ya want?' Daryl rubbed his head and frowned at his half naked brother stood in his doorway. _

'_Is that any way to talk to your brother eh?' Merle's pupils were dilated, and despite the fact that Daryl was no doctor, he sure knew it when his brother was high. _

'_Brother, funny, I thought ya just stayed here when the prison would kick ya ass out?' Daryl turned his back on his brother and continued to shave down the wood, ignoring the splinters which were sticking in his hands. _

_Merle stumbled his way into Daryl's room, and slapped his brother on the back of his head, 'Shut up pussy. I needed to come back here to help ya out, little brother.' _

_Daryl stood up and frowned, blue eyes staring into blue eyes. 'Help me with what?'_

'_Follow me Darylina.' _

_Daryl scoffed as he followed his brother, and stood in the doorway and Merle opened the door to his room. Lying on the bed was a naked blonde haired woman, passed out with dark eyeliner smudged over her face. _

'_This here is Sparkle, or Spark or Star or whatever. We have her until the morning bro, so have at her.' Merle stumbled a little and had to hold onto Daryl's shoulder for support. _

_Daryl felt embarrassed looking at the woman like that, but it also made him uncomfortable. Blood was rushing to parts of him he would rather ignore. He just scowled at Merle, and pushed his brother off him. _

'_Get bent Merle, I aint sleeping with no whore.' Daryl turned and walked back to his room, ignoring his brother as he shouted, _

'_C'mon Daryl. Ya only turn 18 once. Can't have ya a pussy all ya life. Darylina the virgin eh. Suit yaself douchebag.'_

_Daryl just slammed his door behind him, 'Happy fuckin' birthday eh'. _


	11. Chapter 11

**Hi Guys, sorry its been so long! Thank you to those who are still following and reviewing! Hope you enjoy it! **

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Chapter Eleven

Silence, Everybody's Best Friend

Despite the sky darkening, blonde hair stuck to Rebecca's face as she carefully walked through the woods, making sure her footsteps did not attract any unwanted attention. Her shoulder throbbed against the tight wrapping, but considering what she had just done; it would not have surprised Rebecca if she had reopened the wound.

A twig snapped, and she gripped the gun she had in her hands, Rick's gun. A pang of guilt hit her, but there was no room for guilt, Rebecca was helping the group. Her brown eyes were darting from each angle, trying to see where the noise came from; but it was her nose that truly alerted the young woman to the danger. A stumbling, moaning figure of someone who was once a daughter but now a greying, hungry corpse had its dead eyes on the blonde; and nothing was going to stop it from eating. The walker was slow, and Rebecca decided on using her knife to dispatch the threat; but as she stabbed the walker in the head, it fell on top of her. They both landed in a heap on the floor, and Rebecca could feel the grime of the twice-dead woman stick to her clothes; and once she had managed to push the walker off her; the top she was given to wear by Beth was no longer grey.

'Sonuvabitch.' Rebecca hissed as she stood up, looking at the state of her clothes; and making sure her shoulder was okay. She stopped and waited for a moment to see whether there were any more walkers coming her way and started to move; noticing that the sky was getting darker still. Her footsteps hurried, her whole body moving gracefully yet with urgency, Rebecca knew that time was working against her. She scanned the ground she was walking on, careful to avoid twigs and rocks; tripping over or causing a loud noise in the woods was not an option. Rebecca had almost got into her stride, but something stopped her in her tracks.

Lying on the ground were two walkers, both male with grey skin and a few chunks missing out of them; and two bolts sticking out of their heads. A smile ghosted on the lips of the blonde as she pulled out the bolts; knowing that this meant Daryl was close. With a new purpose in her step, Rebecca continued to follow the trail that the hunter had left, while keeping an eye out for danger. However, the young woman was not at vigilant as she thought.

'Hey little lady, what's a fine piece of ass like yours doing in the woods. This is a dangerous place y'know; there are some bad things in these here woods.'

The growl of a voice coming from the woods caused Rebecca to freeze and her blood to run cold. A man stepped out from the bushes to her right, and the smile on the dirty man made her skin crawl. His hair was thick with grime and sweat, his eyes were grey; but alive this time. There would be nothing that suggested this man was particularly nasty before the world fell apart, but the way his tongue trailed over his lips and his eyes rolled over her body suggested to Rebecca that this man was no longer a potentially nice guy. Knowing the stranger was coming from a direction in front of her, Rebecca used the sound of his footsteps to mask the noise the bolts made as they fell onto the ground; the leaves encompassing the Dixon's weapon.

Rebecca's eyes could not move from this man, and her whole being had wished Rick was with her now.

_Typical _

'So, what's ya name?' The man was moving closer, and she saw more movement all around her. She was surrounded by 3 other men and for the first time in a while; willed walkers to come and disrupt.

'Boss, think she is with this one? Maybe she's his woman. Sure would hurt him if we took her.' A younger male to Rebecca's left, with mousy brown hair was almost shaking with the thrill of finding a woman.

The leader could see the fear in Rebecca's eyes, and stepped forward more. 'Ignore Danny. He gets a bit excitable at times. We don't want to hurt you. Much.'

The way the leader finished that sentence caused her stomach to flip, but then a fifth man came out of some trees holding something. No, someone.

Daryl.

Rebecca fought off every urge to admit knowing him, thankful that she probably looked at mess now.

'My name is Jackson. This here is my group. We have been in the woods for 3 days now; ever since our town got over run by the dead. It's been a quiet 3 days, then two strangers fall into our laps at once. One with a sweet ass crossbow, and one with a sweet ass.' The leader was standing close enough to Rebecca that she could smell him, and he smelled worse than what she did.

'So you need to tell me, little lady. This guy one of yours?'

Daryl started to stir, and looked up to Rebecca, his bruised face clearly displaying shock rather than fear. Blue eyes narrowed, desperate to read the expression on the blonde's face; while not giving anything away.

'I...I...I am alone. I don't know that guy. My name is Kate. I'm just looking for somewhere to go.' Her brown eyes pleaded with the grey ones of Jackson; but she felt his gaze fall onto her padded shoulder.

'That's not a bite, or fresh. Someone has patched you up. You aint alone bitch.' The sound of Jackson striking Rebecca echoed in the woods, and the woman fell to the floor. He gave a swift kick to her stomach, and Rebecca was convinced she saw Daryl flinch and a flash of anger appear on his face.

Jackson placed a boot on her shoulder.

'Tell me where the rest of you are, or I will let my boys at you.'

'Ahhhhhhh.' Another kick to the stomach shut Rebecca up, and Jackson left her to regroup with his boys.

Daryl was desperate for Rebecca to get up and run away, she did not deserve to be caught up in the mess he was in. Yet again, the stranger was here helping him, and Daryl did not like the feeling it left him. Gratitude and appreciation. He was used to it from his group, but not a stranger; or a woman, besides Carol.

Rebecca got up onto her knees with a hand gripping her shoulder. None of the men were looking at her or Daryl, and the guy who dragged Daryl over had left the crossbow on the ground next to him; clearly not used to carrying something so heavy.

Brown eyes very carefully gestured to worried blue eyes that the crossbow was literally right next to the man; and Rebecca could have sworn Dayrl's eyes rolled at the utter stupidity of the man who had left it there. She shuffled slightly to her right, and watched as Daryl also shifted over to the crossbow. Noticing his hands were bound, Rebecca threw her knife towards the hunter and winked; smiling again at the confused look Daryl was giving her.

'Aghhhhh.' Rebecca stood up, the noise causing the group huddle to split. She watched as each man closed in on her.

Jackson stepped a little bit closer to her, fire in his grey eyes,

'You know what we decided, Kate. That you will do us just nicely. Until we get bored. But that might not be for a while.' His hands ghosted over the top of her chest, and he punched her in the stomach; causing her to double over and fall again on the floor. While Rebecca rolled onto her side, she could hear the sound of a zip being undone, but that served merely as a louder sound; masking the noise Daryl made as he stood up.

Rebecca moved quickly, and grabbed the bolt she took from one of the walkers before, and stabbed it in the foot of Danny, the younger one, and watched as Daryl shot two of the men in the head. Danny's screams were getting louder as blood pooled in his shoe. One of the men ran towards Daryl, and sent a punch in the hunter's face; but the Dixon was more nimble than that and ducked the punch while jabbing the guy with his crossbow. The man doubled over, Daryl smacked him in the head and the man fell on the floor; unconscious.

Meanwhile, Jackson stalked closer to Rebecca, teeth snarling as he watched the young woman shuffle backwards on the ground, her hand touching something cold and metal.

Rick's gun.

But her eyes widened as she saw a gun in the hands of Jackson.

'Bitch. I was going to enjoy every bit of you. But, I will leave you for the dead to enjoy.'

BANG.


	12. Chapter 12

**Sorry it has been so long since I've updated, work has been busy, and life really! Hope you enjoy this chapter :) **

**I own nothing except my O/C. Sad times...**

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Chapter 12

Role Reversal

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BANG

A sharp hiss of breath could be heard immediately after the deafening sound of a gun firing echoed through the woods. It was almost as if time had stopped for everyone and everything; except the dead. The sounds of their shuffling feet soon filled the woods as they followed the sound of a gun, which meant food.

Daryl was frozen to the spot, blue eyes fixed on the woman who was on the floor, pale as all colour left her; and brown eyes glazed over. Trembling hands held a smoking gun, and it was not until the man fell down did Rebecca focus her attention to Daryl.

She had just killed a man.

Shot him in his head.

The image of the gun going off, the bullet going as slow as possible as is pierced through the skull and brain of Jackson; kept replaying through the her mind. She knew this was no longer the world she lived in with the knowledge of safety and law. But Rebecca did not want to kill, not the living, it was bad enough that the dead were killing everything in its path. Her hands still held onto the gun, and she trembled on the floor of the woods, not able to move or speak; Daryl was watching intensely to make sure she remembered to breathe. He slowly started to walk towards the beaten woman in front of him, not wanting to get shot himself; though it did take a lot of self-control to not bring up how impressed he was with her accuracy with a gun. Daryl could see that the spark which Rebecca still held in her eyes was no longer there as they remained glazed over, but he needed to get her up before the rest of the gang woke up and wanted retribution.

'Becca, it's Daryl…' His voice was enough to bring her attention back to the here and now. But the louder moans of the walkers behind him made them both jolt with fear.

'Sorry lady, we ain't got time to sit aroun'. Get your ass up, we need ta leave. NOW.'

Daryl shrugged off the familiar way this situation was from when they first met, this was not the time or the place to discuss irony. Rebecca seemed to understand what he was saying at least, because she was up and running; hissing as the pain in her ribs made itself known. Daryl heard her make a noise, and almost kicked himself for forgetting what had just happened before she shot that man; the woman got her ass kicked to save him. He could not work out if he was angry with her, himself, those men or even Merle; there were too many factors in their current situation to know which one he hated the most. Probably himself though, he did not need to bring anyone else on his mess; Merle was his pain in the ass brother and Rebecca had no right to be here at all. Something brought him out of his thoughts as he carried on running, it was Rebecca. She was trying to say something.

'Daryl, we need to go back to the cabin.' Her voice was loud, but Rebecca could not quite look at Daryl as she spoke. He put that down to the fact that they were running from a group of five walkers; although most of the guys back there would now be walker chow.

Daryl nodded and started to slow down, more out of courtesy to the woman running with him. Rebecca seemed surprised that they had started walking, and it seemed that Daryl had read that in her face.

'Those bastards will be occupied with our buddies back there, lets take it easy. The cabin is a good idea, its pretty dark now anyways.' He focused his attention on Rebecca, making sure she understood what he was saying.

'We need to go back to the cabin anyway. I left Rick there.'

The statement was heavy in the air, and Daryl scowled with confusion. Rick came as well, but Rebecca left him in the cabin. Was he okay? Hurt? Why would she do that? Daryl suddenly did not know if he could trust her; and the ability to read doubt in people's faces was not just something he could do.

'Look. Before you think I am some kind of danger or threat, let me explain. Rick came to help find you, but is not in a fit state to be doing anything other than sleeping. He is spent. I don't know anything about any of you, but I know I don't want some half-crazed man who is currently on the most wanted list of some psycho getting my ass eaten.'

Daryl scoffed, 'And so he just let you drop him off at the cabin and run into the woods to get me? Rick is a good man, and may be in a bad place; but he aint an idiot.'

Rebecca's eyes shifted, she still struggled to look at the hunter. 'I knocked him out, and dragged him to the cabin. Zip tied him to the bed.'

Daryl's eyes narrowed. 'On your head be it Becca.'

She knew it was not the smartest thing to do for her future in the group, if there was one, but Rebecca was convinced it saved her life and Daryl's. But not those men's lives. She has ended those.

Murderer.

Daryl nudged her to keep moving, the moon making an appearance in the sky, and weary of walkers making an appearance in the woods. But he also watched as Rebecca's moods changed, despite the fact that she had spoken more than a sentence, he noticed that she could not look at him. Maybe she blamed him for killing that guy, or for getting beaten up. He shook his head, dark brown strands of hair covering his face; all he needed to do was get back to the cabin.

It was about another 5 minutes before they got back, and Rebecca breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that Rick was still on the bed and not moving. The soft sounds of snoring had told her that he had fallen asleep, probably worn himself out from the restraints.

Daryl whistled to Rebecca who had not moved since getting into the cabin, her brown eyes furrowed as she tried to work out what the Dixon was trying to tell her, but the darkness took over much of the cabin. She had given up trying to lip read in the dark, but was not expecting Daryl to be stood right in front of her. His face was still under the blanket of the shadows, but he was so close to her, she could smell him. As he opened his mouth to speak, he frowned when he noticed Rebecca suddenly shift her gaze back to the floor, and held her chin up with his hand. Daryl's grip was not hard or rough, but it was unexpected and Rebecca looked a little wild and confused; she was not expecting Daryl to be this close let alone hold her face.

'Look at me when I'm talking, its too dark to be signin' shit to each other, and too dangerous for ya ta be guessing what I am saying. We need ta be quiet and one of us needs to stay on watch. We will take it in 3 hour shifts, I'll go first. Lets hope Rick don't get too hostile on our asses when he wakes up; or I am leaving ya here.'

His words were harsh, but Rebecca simply nodded. All of her ached, especially her shoulder and ribs; but now the adrenaline was wearing off, the tiredness set in. Slowly and quietly the blonde woman reached for her backpack, and took out two bottles of water and two cereal bars.

Tapping him with the water on the shoulder as he sat by the door, his silhouette still visible, Rebecca bent down to lie on the floor, hissing slightly as she did so. It seems that being alone for as long as she had, did not prepare her for the horrors of other people. Not directed at her anyway.

'We will leave first thing in the morning.' Daryl's words were short, but there was no place for small talk. Rebecca grunted a reply, clearly exhausted from the evening's entertainment, and it was not long before the slight sound of heavy breathing could be heard from the young woman. And the rustling of a waking Deputy Sheriff tied to a bed.


	13. Chapter 13

**Another Update :) Hope you are enjoying the story so far! **

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Chapter 13

Homeward Bound

Daryl moved swiftly to the bed, desperate to keep the waking man quiet and their position secret. The moon was providing a good enough source of light through into the small cabin, and the hunter was aware enough of his surroundings to not knock anything over or step on Rebecca.

Rick turned to his hand that was tied to the bed and went to move, panic taking over all of his features; but stopped suddenly when a hand was placed over his mouth. Eyes slightly hidden by a mess of dark hair looked into his, and automatically Rick knew who it was. Daryl. He let go of the breath, which was caught in his lungs, and watched the hunter intensely.

'Rick, you need ta calm down. We are in the cabin from 'fore when we went ta Woodbury. Becca found it when she found Merle.'

At the mention of Rebecca's name, Rick's eyes flashed with anger and a slight hint of betrayal. He wanted answers, why someone who was so persistent that they were not going to cause harm to the group would tie him up here.

Daryl could see what Rick was thinking when he mentioned the young woman's name, and shook his head. 'Don't think about it. Believe it or not, she did this to save all of us. She can already see…' Daryl paused, unsure if Rick was prepared to hear what he needed to say. A deep breath followed as he looked back at his leader on the bed, then remembered that Rick was his friend, brother.

'She can already see through the cracks. You're slippin' man, and we can't afford to not have ya focused. There was too much risk for ya to be in the woods with the Governor afta your ass. Becca kept you safe.'

Rick closed his eyes as he heard Daryl's honest words, feeling different about them than usual. Daryl was known for not being one to hide what he thought, or the truth of a situation; but no one else was calling Rick out for his manic behavior since the death of his wife. Which is why when Daryl did it, it must have been bad. He slowly opened his eyes, and nodded in agreement with what the hunter was saying, and could almost feel the relief wash off the Dixon. Another pang of guilt set in the stomach of Rick, here he was going crazy, and the man before him had just lost his brother. Daryl had been with Rick step by step recently, and it was time for Rick to return the favour. But it was more then a favour, they needed the friendship and familial bond to keep each other strong for the rest of the group.

Daryl pulled his knife out, and cut through the tie on Rick's wrist, and watched as the man rubbed his wrist while slowing getting off of the bed; frowning slightly as he tried to move for the first time in a few hours. Rick was trying hard to keep quiet, and started to follow Daryl to the door where he was taking watch. That's when he noticed the sleeping woman, and instinctively moved forward, only to be stopped by the hunter; and small shake of the head made it clear that Rick needed to leave her. Daryl bent down and picked up the blonde woman, careful to not wake her or cause further harm. She smelled naturally sweet with the usual scent of the woods and walker guts fighting for prominence over her, and was fairly light; Daryl placed her on the bed with ease. He stood for a second over her, making sure she did not wake up or start to panic at the sudden movement; but Rebecca was fast asleep.

Rick watched as Daryl put the woman gently onto the bed, and must have had a look of confusion plastered onto his face, because the younger Dixon turned and frowned; feeling his face get warmer.

'So, we just trust her now? She comes in, and you're best pals? That's not the Daryl I know.' Rick was not convinced that Rebecca was as good as she says, but was concerned that Daryl was being easily swayed.

Daryl's head snapped towards the policeman, 'I never said anythin' about trustin' her. Blondie here saved ma life twice, Rick. But this is why we need your head back. I won't make the call on this girl's life, that's not ma job; and if it were, im not sure I could jus get rid of her. Psht, Daryl you know. You sure talk shit when you're goin crazy. My brother is dead.'

The words rested heavy in the air, and Rick looked at his feet before looking up at the hurt young man before him. Daryl was not someone you hugged, or whispered to while he cried on your shoulders.

'Daryl…I'm sorry. I know how much you looked up to your brother, and I need to be there for you like you have been for me since…' Rick coughed, not wanting to say the words aloud, 'but we need to be sure that we can trust her.'

The hunter nodded as he intensely looked at his boot, forcing the lump in his throat to go; not prepared to deal with the well of emotion there was inside him. He breathed out heavily, 'Becca still needs to come back with us; Hershel needs ta patch her up.' Daryl was not used to given orders at all, let alone to the leader of his group, but he wanted to make sure the woman asleep on the bed got some medical treatment before they kicked her out. Which is what probably would happen, no one in the group trusted anyone out of the group; too much had been lost.

* * *

Sunshine started creeping into the cabin, and Rebecca shifted as it woke her up. She frowned, confused as to why her back was not cold and stiff from the floor; holding onto her ribs as she turns to decipher her surroundings.

'Mornin'. You ready?' Blue eyes bore into her brown ones, and an immediate wave of relief washed over the woman as she recognised the man in front of her. Then dread as she caught the blue eyes of the other man.

Blonde hair bobbed in its messy ponytail as Rebecca nodded, taking a much-needed sip from her bottle of water. Slowly she got up, and realised she was on the bed where Rick was tied. Daryl ignored the look on her face as she tried to work out what had happened, and how she ended up on the bed. But he watched as her eyes were trained on Rick, waiting for an attack. Rebecca flinched as Rick stood up with his gun in hand, the one she used to shoot that man; and Daryl could have sworn he saw tears well in the brow doe eyes of the woman. Rick noticed too, and raised his other hand in a type of surrender.

'Daryl told me everything. Why you did what you did. And it was the right call, if I say so myself. But next time, don't leave me defenseless; okay.' He attempted to smile, but it did not quite reach his eyes, and he noticed that Rebecca's attempt to look calm back also did not get to her eyes.

Daryl broke the tension with a cough and picked up his crossbow, both Rick and Rebecca taking the hint and walking to the door with him. Rebecca turned to her makeshift belt and realised her knife was missing; she must have dropped it when she was getting the shit kicked out of her. Daryl handed her a small hunting knife, with no interest in sharing eye contact or any form of sentiment. He kept his gaze forward as he opened the door and stalked back into the woods; the other two following him closely behind.

* * *

The journey back was silent, except from the odd twig snap or shuffle of a walker. There was not too many of them around to cause a panic for the three, but they were still tense enough to be watching from every direction. It did not take long for them to get back, Carol and Carl very quickly opened the gates for them to go through before a few of the walkers in the yard caught up to them; Daryl used a couple of bolts to take some out.

He tensed when Carol threw herself on him, hugging him and sobbing slightly, he caught 'Merle' in between her sobs; but was not paying too much attention. The moment when Rebecca thought they were together lay heavy on his mind, if a stranger thought that; what did the rest of the group think? Rick had a rare smile on his face when he saw Carl walk up to him, the kid was not quite ready to hug his dad; but smiled when his hair was ruffled up. The rest of the group came out and would either pat Daryl or Rick on the back, a sign of their affection and appreciation that they made it back okay. Rebecca felt a strong sense of loneliness course through her veins as she watched this make shift family share in their love for each other; and it only served to remind her that she was alone.

Alone, and a murderer.

She started breathing shallow breaths the more the events of the day before played in her mind, and everything seemed to spin. The one constant was the look on the man's face, prepared to kill her but eyes wide as the bullet ripped through him. Those dead eyes.

Worse than any walker Rebecca had met.

Attention was suddenly on the stranger as they noticed her fall to the ground, eyes closed as she passed out. Everything sounded like it was under water for Rebecca, but she could here a definite sound over all of the commotion. It was the panicked voices of Beth. Beth and Daryl.


End file.
